Schfifty 5 Scent
Against The Grain Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

"Hey little girl, do you want to hear a secret? 'Cause I've got one and it its sooo good to hear it".... And even more random ridiculousness ensues as inspiration is spawned from the pits of YouTube with the Shfifty Five skit.

But what is made is an American pale ale with heavy emphasis on hops. As it pours a hazy amber, those "dry" hops make themselves known. Its honey-like hue is capped with a fluffy off-white head that stays confidently and leaves behind broken rings of lace in its wake. Its overall appearance certainly suggests a hop-centric ale.

Grapefruit, orange peels, and fresh-cut grass guide the nose; just as underlying caramel malts support the hops and even rival its balance, but with only marginal success. Light alcohol and barley husk suggest the beer's zesty and crisp nature and gives the beer an appetizing character even before the fist sip.

To taste, the ale more resembles IPA with the strong hop presence up front. As in the aromas, the taste is of white grapefruit and dried citrus peels. Herbal grasses and mild vegetal flavors seem to be as much of hop leaves as it does hop oils. With the beer's crisply dry taste, it leaves the taste of the plants with little support and balance. Finishing sharply bitter the beer's balance shies away from the light caramel malt and drives toward hops and grain.

With the taste of IPA, and the body of a standard pale ale, the beer seems lightly textured and makes me want more creaminess to start. But the beer's bright and airy mouthfeel soon shifts to absolute crispness, cleanness, and refreshment to finish.

The beer's secret is that it is really no pale ale at all- it is a light bodied IPA that's highly refreshing and easy to drink, even despite its sharp grassy hop taste and bitterness. Maybe that comes from the extra schwiggidy-schwam that they throw into the beer making process.